I am happy to report that the following federal contract towers will remain open in North Texas. . .
Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas Arlington: Rep. Joe Barton (R-Arlington/Ennis) issued the following statement after the announcement of this decision:
Due to the impacts of sequestration which took place on March 1 2013 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Secretary Ray LaHood made a decision to close 189 federal contract towers beginning on April 7
th. Three of the towers in this initial list of closures are in the 6
th District.
Rep. Barton arranged a meeting with Regional FAA Administrator Teresa Bruner and senior city and local officials in Arlington Grand Prairie and Fort Worth to express his concerns regarding these closures. At this meeting Administrator Bruner announced that the towers at Arlington Municipal Fort Worth Spinks Airport and Grand Prairie Municipal would remain open.
I am happy to report that the following federal contract towers will remain open in North Texas: Arlington Municipal Fort Worth-Spinks and Grand Prairie Municipal" Rep. Barton said. These towers are in place to ensure the safety of our air traffic control and I believe that the FAA has made the right decision to keep these towers open. Im grateful to Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson for joining me in the effort to keep these towers open.
I support reducing federal spending and understand that sequestration is part of that process but it should be done smartly. The FAA decision to keep these towers open is a smart one."
On March 21 2013 Rep. Barton (TX-06) and Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX-30) sent a joint letter to FAA Administrator Michael P. Huerta expressing concerns over the closures of Arlington Municipal Fort Worth- Spinks and Grand Prairie Municipal. A copy of the letter can be found
here.
